Bangladesh lags behind in the use of internet and computers in business

According to a World Bank report, less than half of the businesses in Bangladesh use computers. In that report, compared to the neighboring countries, the picture of Bangladesh’s weak position in the use of modern technology in business has emerged.

According to the Digital Progress and Trends Report-2023, between 2019 and 2022, only 46 percent of Bangladeshi organizations have used computers and 50 percent of companies have access to the Internet.

Almost 100 percent of companies in Brazil, Chile, Georgia, India, Korea, Poland, and Vietnam had a computer for business purposes and use an Internet connection.

On the other hand, only half of the institutions in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia have computers.

According to the report, companies in some low- and middle-income countries are experiencing frequent internet service disruptions due to low internet speeds.

The report mentions that Bangladesh is a country where internet service is often interrupted, thereby reducing the competitiveness of companies.

In Bangladesh, internet services are expected to be disrupted on an average seven times per month. Such frequent disruptions make it difficult to maintain business continuity and compete with other companies in the global digital economy.’

As a result, questions have been raised about the viability of the government’s spending of thousands of crores on expanding the country’s optical fiber cable network for broadband internet.

Besides, the government has spent thousands of crores on various projects to achieve the vision of ‘Digital Bangladesh’.

In the period 2019 to 2022, Bangladeshi organizations lagged behind in the use of cloud computing services, with only seven percent of the country’s businesses using cloud computing services.

On the other hand, 34 percent of companies in Bangladesh have websites and 23 percent use social media.

According to the report, 39 out of every 100 people in Bangladesh use the internet.

This rate is higher than Pakistan and Afghanistan, but lower than neighboring and peer economies such as India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.

Former president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Fahim Mashroor said that the government could not make digital devices and data connectivity cheap enough. Mobile data can be cheaper if the tax and VAT structure is supportive. Besides, the quality of internet outside the big cities is very poor.

He said, the World Bank’s report has revealed the practical aspect of the use of modern technology in Bangladesh’s business institutions.

One of the main reasons for this is that the business organizations in Bangladesh are mainly small and medium-sized and most of them have little ability to spend money to invest in computer or network-related expenses.

Apart from this, Fahim Mashroor said that there are not enough low-cost software solutions for these businesses.

The report classifies Bangladesh as a lower-middle-income country, with an average of 56 percent of the population using the Internet.

The average rate in South Asia is 42 percent. This shows that Bangladesh lags behind the average rate of lower middle income countries and South Asia in terms of internet usage.

According to the World Bank report, 32 percent of people in the country use the Internet on mobile phones.

Smartphone usage rate among mobile phone users in the country is about 51.77 percent. Bangladesh has the lowest smartphone usage rate in South Asia. Even in Afghanistan this rate is higher than Bangladesh. Smartphone usage rate in Afghanistan is 55.79 percent.

However, only 18 percent of people in Afghanistan use the Internet.

Other South Asian countries also have high smartphone usage rates – 83 percent in Maldives, 81 percent in Bhutan, 77 percent in India, 70 percent in Sri Lanka, 63 percent in Pakistan and 59 percent in Nepal.